Research on the early Buddhist architecture in the Ayeyarwady Basin

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of the five major river basins in the Indochina Peninsula.

Location	Countries where the basin pass	Sources	Length	Area of the basin	Average flow
Ayeyarwady Basin	Myanmar	Nmai Hka, Mali Hka	2170 km	413,710 km^2	13,000 m^3/s
Salween Basin	Myanmar, Thailand	Qinghai Province, China	2815 km	324,000 km^2	4978 m^3/s
Chao Phraya Basin	Thailand	Ping River, Wang River, Yom River, Nan River	372 km	160,400 km^2	718 m^3/s
Mekong Basin	China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam	Qinghai Province, China	4350 km	795,000 km^2	16,000 m^3/s
Red River Basin	China, Vietnam	Yunnan Province, China	1149 km	143,700 km^2	2640 m^3/s

Figure 1. Five major river basins in the Indochina Peninsula, Southeast Asia.

Figure 2. (left) The division of large river basins in the Indochina Peninsula.

Figure 3. (right) The division of the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 4. The spread of Buddhism in Asia.

Figure 5. The route of Buddhism to the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 6. The location of the ancient city in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 7. Temples and stupas in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 8. The evolution of early Buddhist architecture in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 9. Beikthano and Srikshetra.

Figure 10. The distribution of Buddhist architecture in Srikshetra.

Table 2. The evolution of the stupa characteristics during Pyu period.

Type	Period	Representative examples	Characteristics
Hemisphere in the early Andhra period	1st to 4th century AD	KKG3	Circular stylobate, hemispherical inverted bowl, and with terraces extending from the stylobate. The architectural form of such stupas after restoration is very similar to that of the stupas in Amaravati (founded in the 2nd century BC) of Andhra Pradesh (the Buddhist center of South India) in southern India.
High dome shape stupas in the Gupta Empire	5th to 6th century AD	Gwe Bin Tet Kon	The stupa body took on the shape of a high dome and the prototype originated from the Nalanda stupa of India.
Cylindrical shape	6th to 7th century AD	Bawbawgyi	The stupa body took on the shape of a cylinder and was covered with a dome.
Bud shape	7th to 11th century AD	Payagyi, Payama	The surface was plain, with little carving, and without harmika. The form was different from that of the stupas in India and other river basins of Southeast Asia during this period, reflected the localization features of the stupas in the Ayeyarwady Basin to some extent, and ultimately became the prototype of the Myanmar-style stupas.

Figure 11. The evolution of the stupas in the Ayeyarwady Basin and India before the 9th century.

Figure 12. Hollow plane and solid plane during late Pyu in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 13. The plan and section of Bebe Caitya-grha and Lemyethna Caitya-grha.

Figure 14. Bagan Buddhist architecture site.

Figure 15. Seinnyet Nyima (11th century), Sinhalese-style inverted bell shape.

Figure 16. The evolution of the stupas in the Ayeyarwady Basin of Bagan period.

Figure 17. The plan and facade of Shwesandaw Paya (mid-11th century), Myanmar-style inverted bell shape.

Table 3. Changes in the temple style in different periods of the Bagan Dynasty.

Period	Characteristics of the roof, doors, windows and the decorative motif
Before the 11th century AD	During the initial stage of the development, Indian temple styles were taken as the prototype on the whole, which featured small building volume, narrow interior space, thick wall, unadorned style and varying forms, and the architectural form of a square hall plus a roof stupa emerged. After the 7th century, the architectural form became increasingly complicated, the stair-stepping roof retracted inward layer by layer, and the top was covered with a sikhara. A flat arch was often built on the door frame and a cylindrical arch was built above the flat arch. The form of the gable wall at the entrance resembled that of Angkor and Champa. Bricks, wood and stones were the mixed building materials. This is the exploration period at the beginning of the development of temples in the Ayeyarwady Basin.
11th to early 12th century AD	Doors and windows: 1) Blank doors appeared on both sides of the entrance hall to increase the elevation transformation; 2) The design of window sashes incorporated the characteristics of the “garbha griha chamber” of Brahmanism, thus creating a windowing style featured with a grille-type hole shape, compact arrangement and small monomer size. Sunlight exposure was thus limited, making the interior space dark and filled with an atmosphere of mediation and religious fantasy. Roof: 1) The roof had two types, the local slope roof style and the flat roof style of South India. Unlike the multifarious decorations of the roof in other river basins of Southeast Asia, such roof was simple and had fewer ridge decorations. 2) Stepped retraction stylobates were built on the roof of the main hall and served as the base of the top stupa. The stylobate tended to be flat and large, and there was a certain terrace space expanded, but less spacious than those after the 12th century. 3) Corner stupas, corner temples and squatting beasts were built at the four corners (or including the central part) of each stylobate on the roof, symbolizing the concept of “from the center to the four directions”. This form was later adopted by the basin and quickly became one of the main characteristics of the temples in Ayeyarwady. 4) Multi-style stupas were often built in the center of the roof of the inner hall, including Indian sikharas, Myanmar-style inverted-bell stupas, Sinhalese-style stupas, and pyramid stupas. Decorative motifs: 1) Wall decoration: The lime sculptures on the wall surface, pilaster, string course and cornice were mainly composed of the geometric motif, kirtimukha motif, plant motif such as cursive scripts and lotus petal, and motifs of birds and animals. 2) Door and window decoration: At the beginning of the 11th century, the window frame was decorated with simple rectangular architraves, and then the double-layer protruding frame was gradually built, wrapped by the lintel, the pilaster and the pointed arch at the top. In particular, the pilaster was carved with inverted triangle pendants, the arch surface was decorated in the shape of flame of the Mons, above the arch were decorations of plant patterns, and Capricorn fish was decorated on both ends of the bottom of the arch surface. This style had continued since its emergence and became another major characteristic of the temples in the Ayeyarwady Basin. 3) Interior decoration: The ceilings and walls of the temples were decorated with the murals of Hinduism, Theravada, Mahayana and other religions, indicating the diversity of the Buddhist architecture in the Ayeyarwady Basin.
After the 12th century AD	Doors and windows: 1) The windowing method changed from the grille-type aperture windows to transparent large window openings, making the interior of temples bright and open. 2) Multiple doors and windows. An entrance and an exit were built at the center of each side of the cross-shaped plane, with multiple side doors and side windows set on both sides. Roof: 1) Slope roof and flat roof were continued in use, the volume increased, the roof stylobate became flatter, and the continuity was enhanced. 2) Corner stupas, corner temples, squatting beasts and Buddha statues were built at the four corners of each layer of the roof, and in the central part was a niche to worship the sitting Buddha. The exteriorization of Buddha elements on the roof in this period marked the secularization trend of the Buddhist architecture in the Ayeyarwady Basin. 3) Indian-style sikharas were generally built on the roof, the stupa body was elongated, and various types of stupas were rarely seen. Decorative motif: 1) In the 12th-13th century, each part of the temples was decorated in a more complicated and more delicate manner. The shape of flame on the arch surface became taller and straighter, which enhanced the upward tension. Besides, auspicious animals were often carved on both sides of the Capricorn fish lime sculptures. The use of color was added on the basis of the traditional decorative motif, such as the small yellow-green colored glaze pieces decorated on the wall surface. 2) After the end of the 13th century, facade sculptures saw a dramatic decrease, decoration tended to be simple, but interior murals were still prevalent and mostly themed on Buddha statues and the stories of the Jataka, and were well preserved.

Figure 18. Early temple paradigm in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 19. The analysis of Ananda (1091).

Figure 20. The composition of multi-layer plane.

Figure 21. The evolution of the temples in the Ayeyarwady Basin of Bagan period.

Figure 22. The evolution of interior space.

Figure 23. The evolution of the flame shape motif.

Figure 24. The plan and section of Ananda (1091).

Figure 25. The composition of the hollow temple.

Figure 26. The development of the hollow plane.

Figure 27. The development of the solid plane.

Figure 28. Increase of the P/R ratio.

Figure 29. Section of That-Byin-Nyu.

Figure 30. Arch technology system in the Ayeyarwady Basin.

Figure 31. Multilayer vault and flat arch.

Figure 32. Bricks and stones masonry.